A team of researchers has developed a new robotic arm that can be worn by using hydraulics.
The device is powerful enough to smash through walls and is capable of picking up items weighing up to 5kg. According to The Metro newspaper, the waist-mounted device weighs about as much of a human arm and has been shown completing a variety of tasks. It can paint, wash windows and handle tasks, as well as play badminton.
The robot was created by researchers at Université de Sherbrooke in Canada and is known as a supernumerary robotic arm, which is a wearable robot that provides a human with an additional limb, according to IEEE Spectrum.
Researchers view this robot as being a co-worker when doing tasks, as it increases productivity or is capable of performing other jobs to free up the user to make decisions based on creativity or judgment, such as painting or building.
Catherine Véronneau, lead author of the study, told IEEE in an email: "The arm managed to fully accomplish many tasks, but I still have some remaining issues to compensate for torsion movements like if the arm is hitting a tennis ball with a racket."
"We also noticed that the harness needs to be rigidly connected to the body, because if there is some backlash between the harness and the body, it can be uncomfortable," she added.
The arm has three degrees of freedom when it comes to movement but is designed especially so it can't swing back and accidentally hit its operator in the face.
